How to build a high collaborative team

Trust Building. To build a cohesive and efficient team, the first and most important step is to build trust. This is not any kind of confidence, but a solid foundation of vulnerability-based trust. For many leaders, to show his vulnerability is something very hard to accept, because they develop a show of strength and confidence in the face of difficulties habit. In many cases this is certainly a noble act, but hesitant team members need their leader to strip naked and jumped into the cold water, demonstrating vulnerability-based trust, these noble acts must be weakened. In fact, this requires that a leader has enough self-confidence to admit their weaknesses, so that other people may follow. Once there is a CEO who failed to build confidence in the team thus led the results of witnessing the decline of their own businesses. One important reason is that he did not take the lead in shaping the vulnerability-based trust. Just as one of his direct subordinate later said: "within in the team that no one was allowed to surpass him in any respect, because he is CEO." The consequence was the team members would not open their hearts to each other, frankly admitted their weaknesses or errors. In our group in MGT 6209, we actually didn’t assign a team leader to lead our each project. While in fact, we can always spoke out our weakness and sought for assists from each other. So it is obviously that we three build trust to others from the very beginning.

Benign Conflict. One of the biggest obstacles in teamwork is the fear of conflict. This comes from two different concerns. On the one hand, many team leaders take various measures to avoid conflicts because they fear losing control of the team, and some people's self-esteem will be hurt in the conflict; another kind of leaders think the conflict is a waste of time. They are more willing to shorten the time of meetings and discussions, make their own decisions and decisive opinion will be adopted sooner or later, leaving more time to implement the decision, as well as other they considered as "real" work. We do had several kinds of conflicts due to our particular culture background and different expectation in this course. But it is rare that we can always facing these conflict positively and willing to solve them together. Sufficient communication is important to us to understand where the conflict begins as well as find a way to figure out the problem.

Unswervingly Action. To be a high performance collaborative team, we must learn to make decisions in the absence of complete information as well as consensus. And because complete information and absolute consistency is very rare, decision-making skills is becoming a most critical behavior in a team. But if a team doesn't encourage constructive and doesn't alert the conflict, it is impossible to learn the decision. Only when the team members warmly and undefended debating to each other, frankly speaking out their minds, they can have full confidence to make the decision to focus the collective wisdom. The team who can’t disagree with different ideas and to exchange frank views often find themselves always face the same problem over and over again.

Be responsible for each other. How to build a sense of mutual trust? I think it should first melting a positive atmosphere in the team. In this atmosphere, advocate the settlement of the problem rather than a personal attack, a kind of atmosphere we only talking about actions or things instead of the person. Secondly, we all need to keep telling ourselves that "I'm just a service team of supporter". As a coordinator, which is consistent with the spirit of the team. Team members that all play their strengths, tap their wisdom, which determines the command functions do not need leaders, but coordination. Finally, to build a mechanism for the powers of protection, adjust positive team atmosphere in the team, make decision-making power lies not in the individual, but in the whole team, this team is a guarantee of wisdom.

How to ensure the healthy conflict within a team? The team needs to have its own working style. For example, over a period of time to hold a frank and open mind discussion, rubbing some informal way to communicate with each other. In the exchange process, we need to a grasp of the whole exchange, guide the discussion toward the "we only talking about actions or things instead of the person". When it comes to the vicious conflict, one of team members should have to stop it in time. When everything becomes a habit, everything will be very natural. In the same way, encouraging healthy conflict become a cultural in the team.

How to establish mutual responsibility? Clear responsibility and obligation are necessary. Every team members know their position and role in the team, and also aware of the entire team's goal.  To enhance the concept in the team. So that team members can feel the team's goals is the most important when compare to individual’s one. When there is a conflict between team assignment and personal issues, it is not easy to put our personal issue behind and pay full attention to group project. We can only make things one by one perfectly with individual’s effort together with other team members’ help.